Sci-Fi Movies is back with a look at the latest in
sci-fi and genre movies, including another record-breaking performance by The Avengers, confirmation on Kick-Ass 2, a disappointing update from Guillermo del Toro about At The Mountains of Madness. Plus much more, including a discussion surrounding the technology of The Hobbit and the latest from The Amazing Spider-Man and Prometheus along with new images and video previews.

Last weekend "Marvel’s The Avengers" opened to a record-breaking $207.4M domestically, crushing the prior 3-day opening weekend record held by last Summer’s "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" ($169.2M). Including its early foreign launch, "The Avengers" was at more than $800M heading into this weekend. Now the film has just broken another record with an estimated $103.2M this weekend for a new record-setting 2nd weekend performance (the previous record was $75.6M from "Avatar"). Other domestic records broken include fastest movie to $350M (10 days) / $300M (9 days) / $250M (6 days) / $200M (3 days) / $150M (2 days) / $100M (2 days). Additionally, overseas grosses have continued to stay strong and by the close of business on Sunday, "The Avengers" will have crossed $1B worldwide ($1.002B — $373.2M domestic / $628.9M foreign).

Unsurprisingly, Disney quickly announced that they were moving forward with a sequel. A date hasn’t been announced yet and it’s unknown whether Joss Whedon will return to direct, but the film likely won’t hit theaters until after 2014. Marvel Studios’ current slate includes "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013, "Thor 2" on November 15, 2013, "Captain America 2" on April 4, 2014 and an "Untitled Marvel Project" on May 16, 2014. Speculation is rampant over what film will occupy that May 2014 date, but it might be another Marvel project and not ‘Avengers 2’. On that front, studio head Kevin Feige touched on this topic in an interview with CHUD:

Feige: If we do an Avengers 2 it will be after [Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2]. They have to grow, they have to change. What they’ve gone through in this movie will impact their state of mind and where they stand in their next movies. Then whatever they go through in those movies is going to affect where we meet them in the next Avengers film. But I think people will be surprised to see, as we go forward – particularly in Iron Man 3 – the notion of how singular the stories can become. Iron Man 3 is a very singular Tony Stark story. As is Thor 2. Cap, who is stuck in the modern day with no friends or family, there will be some revelations of who is still alive from his days in WWII, but SHIELD and Nick Fury are kind of his confidants right now. So of all these movies, Captain America 2 will be most closely associated with Avengers.

Check out the rest of CHUD’s interview with Feige here. In other ‘Avengers’ news, Mark Ruffallo (Bruce Banner / Hulk) told Collider that he is signed on to play the character for six Marvel movies. Also, despite denials from some others within the studio, Marvel marketing executive Paul Gitter is on record in a recent interview with Forbes that a Hulk movie will be released by 2015:

If Hulk’s successful turnaround continues, Gitter says Marvel "will spin him off to a stand-alone program next year," supported by a big budget franchise movie in 2015. The entertainment studio is also exploring ways to promote Hulk as a "corporate icon," similar to MetLife’s usage of Peanuts’ Snoopy, where The Hulk’s image conveys a message about channeling strength to overcome workplace challenges.

If you’ve seen the movie and are interesting in an discussion about the end-credits scene, check out this interview with Feige and Whedon at /Film. Finally, writer/director Joss Whedon took to Whedonesque to write a letter thanking fans for their support. Here’s an excerpt:

Well, it’s been quite a weekend. Someday, long from now, I will even have an emotional reaction to it, like a person would. I can’t wait! But before I become blinded by this “emotion” experience, there’s a few things I’d like to say. Well, type.

People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true. And change is good — change is exciting. I think — not to jinx it — that I may finally be recognized at Comiccon. Imagine! Also, with my percentage of “the Avengers” gross, I can afford to buy… [gets call from agent. Weeps manfully. Resumes typing.] …a fine meal. But REALLY fine, with truffles and s#!+. And I can get a studio to finance my dream project, the reboot of “Air Bud” that we all feel is so long overdue. (He could play Jai Alai! Think of the emotional ramifications of JAI ALAI!!!!)

Click here to read the entire letter. And lastly, let’s close with this "The Avengers"-themed Maurice Sendak tribute in memory of the late writer/illustrator who passed last week [agarthanguide.deviantart.com via BuzzFeed].

Confirmed: Kick-Ass 2 is a go; Will be distributed by Universal and could
begin shooting as early as this September

Universal Pictures is moving forward with "Kick-Ass 2". The first film was distributed by Lionsgate, but Matthew Vaughn holds the rights since the first $30M movie was self-financed. Vaughn won’t be returning to direct due to other commitments including "X-Men: First Class", but he will be producing. Jeff Wadlow wrote the script and will be directing the project with the full support of Vaughn. Original castmembers Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass), Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) and Christohper Mintz-Plase (Red Mist) are all expected to return for the sequel. So long as the deal closes without incident, filming is expected to begin this September for a possible Summer 2013 release. The original "Kick-Ass" was released in 2010 and grossed $96.2M worldwide ($48.1M domestic / $48.1M).

Guillermo del Toro thinks his At The Mountains of Madness" project could be dead…because of Prometheus?

Enjoy "Prometheus" because Guillermo del Toro seems to believe the Ridley Scott project has probably killed his adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s "At the Mountains of Madness". Here’s what Del Toro wrote on his official message boards:

"Prometheus started filming a while ago—right at the time we were in preproduction on PACIFIC RIM…The title itself gave me pause—knowing that ALIEN was heavily influenced by Lovecraft and his novella. This time, decades later with the budget and place Ridley Scott occupied, I assumed the greek metaphor alluded at the creation aspects of the HPL book. I believe I am right and if so, as a fan, I am delighted to see a new RS science fiction film, but this will probably mark a long pause—if not the demise—of ATMOM."

In later postings, Del Toro added that "Prometheus" shares the "same premise" as ATMOM with "scenes that would be almost identical." He further clarified his stance, stating:

"Both movies seem to share identical set pieces and the exact same BIG REVELATION (twist) at the end. I won’t spoil it."

In development for more than a decade, "At the Mountains of Madness" was scheduled to begin production last year before Universal pulled the plug due to what it felt was too high a budget — $150M — for its R-rating. It’s hard to imagine that it’s been 4 years since Del Toro’s last directorial film — 2008’s "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" — but he was tied up in the lengthy process of getting "The Hobbit" off the ground which he ultimately left to pursue other projects. Del Toro’s next project is next summer’s creature feature "Pacific Rim" which is scheduled for July 12, 2013.

Peter Jackson defends decision to shoot The Hobbit in 48fps

About 10 minutes of Peter Jackson’s "The Hobbit" were screened at Cinemacon last month to mixed reaction, with most of the negative reaction relating to Peter Jackson’s decision to shoot the two-part 3D prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" at the higher 48 frames per second — versus the standard 24fps — which provides a very different aesthetic look. Peter Jackson has now responded to that criticsm, insisting "people haven’t experienced it yet in the way it should be experienced" [via THR]:

“A lot of the critical response I was reading was people saying it’s different. Well, yes, it certainly is…But I think, ultimately, it is different in a positive way, especially for 3D, especially for epic films and films that are trying to immerse the viewer in the experience of a story.”

The main draw to shooting in 48fps is to achieve a more lifelike and smoother picture. Jackson is confident that will be the ultimate result of the films, especially once it goes through the post-production process:

“It does take you a while to get used to,” he said. “Ten minutes is sort of marginal, it probably needed a little bit more. Another thing that I think is a factor is it’s different to look at a bunch of clips and some were fast-cutting, montage-style clips. This is different experience than watching a character and story unfold.”

And there’s probably some truth to that given that Jackson has decided that he won’t be releasing a 48 fps trailer for the movie: "I personally wouldn’t advocate a 48-frame trailer because the 48 frames is something you should experience with the entire film. A 2 1/2 minute trailer isn’t enough time to adjust to the immersive quality". Jackson also noted that shooting in 5K resolution is producing a much more crisp image. Most movies today are shot and projected at 2K, but the industry is moving towards 4K. Check out the rest of the conversation at THR and another interview with Jackson about the same topic at EW.

James Cameron expects Avatar to take up majority of the rest of his career, including a possible Avatar 4

We’ve already heard about "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3", but writer/director James Cameron, in an interview with The New York Times, revealed that he expects the majority of the remainder of his career to be focused on "Avatar"-related projects, including "maybe" a fourth film:

"…I’m not interested in developing anything. I’m in the “Avatar” business. Period. That’s it. I’m making "Avatar 2," "Avatar 3," maybe "Avatar 4," and I’m not going to produce other people’s movies for them. I’m not interested in taking scripts. And that all sounds I suppose a little bit restricted, but the point is I think within the "Avatar" landscape I can say everything I need to say that I think needs to be said, in terms of the state of the world and what I think we need to be doing about it. And doing it in an entertaining way. And anything I can’t say in that area, I want to say through documentaries, which I’m continuing."

Cameron says development on "Avatar 2" and "Avatar 3" is currently in the phase of just getting all the technlogy and visual effects setup and ready to go. He’s also busy writing and he says the design stage will follow next. Check out the rest of the interview here.

First Look at The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man + New trailer

Sony Pictures has released two new photos of The Lizard from "The Amazing Spider-Man" (featured above). Director Marc Webb spoke with ComingSoon.net about bringing the character to life:

"There’s a lot that goes into it. I mean, when we shot those sequences, we actually shot a human. There was a combination of things. A guy, Big John, who was this guy who was literally a big guy named John, who did a lot of the interactive stuff…Then the performance capture was done with Rhys [Ifans] and, for that, we would shoot Rhys in a similar environment and get his facial composure. We’re still working on it. I actually just came from SPI [Sony Pictures Imageworks] where we’re trying to incorporate his performance into the Lizard itself…In the comics there are different incarnations of the Lizard. There’s the MacFarlane one, which has the snout, but I was interested more in finding something that could relate human emotions. I wanted to keep Rhys’s performance in that creature…So Rhys’s performance is giving that nuance, getting the eyebrow tics and the looks. Creating an armature that can actually speak and lips that make sounds. It’s a very detailed and, frankly, tedious process. I really wanted to capture emotion. I wanted him to have a face, have a feeling and that’s the way I chose to do that. Then there are the physical components of it. I wanted to make him very powerful. I wanted to make him stronger than Spider-Man. That was a really important part."

Be sure to check out the rest of ComingSoon.net’s lengthy and thorough interview with Webb here. Sony also released a new trailer for the film which you can check out below. "The Amazing Spider-Man" is scheduled to hit conventional, 3D and IMAX 3D theaters on July 3, 2012.

Speaking of Spider-man, a sequel is already in development, and Star Trek scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have signed on to produce a new draft (see TrekMovie.com article).

Ghostbusters 3 Dead Again?

Dan Aykroyd recently confirmed that Bill Murray will not take part in "Ghostbusters 3", leaving the future of the project uncertain: "The studio, the director Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis feel there must be a way to do it, but Bill Murray will not do the movie. He doesn’t want to be involved." Aykroyd remains confident, however, that the final product, should it get made, will not exploit the franchise: "The script has to be perfect. I’m the cheerleader, but I’m only one voice in the matter. It’s a surety that Bill Murray will not do the movie, however there is still interest from the studio." [The Telegraph]

Lindelof talks Prometheus details + more previes

TrekMovie’s recent PrometheusWatch covered most of the latest for the upcoming Ridley Scott sci-fi film (now less than four week’s away), but EW now has the entire Damon Lindelof interview from their recent cover issue online here. The interview features a detailed discussion of Lindelof’s decision to re-write the first draft of the project to create what became "Prometheus", a story that runs parallel to the original "Alien":

I wrote maybe a four or five paragraph email saying here are all the things I love about [the script], I think there are some incredible set pieces here, I love the fundamental idea behind the movie, I feel like it’s a cool think piece. BUT I think it’s relying a bit too heavily on the Alien stuff that we’ve seen now five or six times in different movies. Chest-bursting and face-hugging and xenomorphs and I just feel that your idea is so strong and the characters can be made so strong that we don’t need any of that stuff. We can present iterations of that stuff in different ways.

That isn’t to say that this isn’t a movie that should be set in that universe, but I look at it more like a story that is running parallel to the original Alien, so that if there was a sequel to this movie, it would not be Alien, it would be Prometheus 2. And then Prometheus 2 is parallel to Aliens. And here’s how we could do that. And so I sent off that email and I got into my bed. I didn’t sleep at all. And at 10 a.m. the next morning, my agent called me and said, ‘Whatever it is you did, they liked it. Can you go in and meet now?’"

Check out the entire interview at EW. "Prometheus" is scheduled to hit conventional, 3D and IMAX 3D theaters on June 8, 2012.

If you missed it, TrekMovie had an update on some more genre projects for Bob and Alex

Star Trek writer/producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are adding yet more franchises to their plates. Today it was announced the pair have signed a new deal with Universal Pictures, with reboots of Van Helsing (with Tom Cruise as star) and The Mummy at the top of their to do lists for the studio.Click here to read the rest of this TrekMovie.com article

New Line is moving forward with a third film in the ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ franchise with a possible 2014 release date. Dwayne Johnson is expected to reprise his role from the recent second film, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island". The second film was released this past February and grossed more than $323.3M worldwide, which was $81M more than what the first ‘Journey’ film grossed in 2008 ($242.0M). [Heat Vision | THR & The Wrap]

Lucasfilm Ltd and Paramount have announced that all four films in "Indiana Jones" franchise will be released on Blu-ray this fall. [Paramount Pictures]

Universal Pictures has announced that Steven Spielberg’s "Jurassic Park" will be re-released in 3D on July 19, 2013; the film’s 20th anniversary. [Universal Pictures]

Dimension Films has bumped "Halloween 3D" from its 2012 schedule and the project currently has a To Be Determined release date. It was originally scheduled for release on October 26 of this year. [Shock Till You Drop]

Sony has set a August 9, 2013 release date for Jose Padilha’s "Robocop" remake and a February 7, 2014 release date for "Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers". [Box Office Mojo]

FilmDistrict has shifted their "Red Dawn" remake from November 2, 2012 to November 21, 2012. [Box Office Mojo]

Universal Pictures has moved up Joseph Kosinski’s sci-fi Tom Cruise-starrer "Oblivion" from July 10, 2013 to April 26, 2013. [Box Office Mojo]

Lionsgate has partnered with WWE Studios for a reboot of the 1993 horror film "Leprechaun". No writer, director or cast is currently attached, but the studio has set release for 2013. [Variety]

Michael Bay, who will be producing the upcoming new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, has confirmed that the project will be simply titled "Ninja Turtles". Jonathan Liebesman is directing the project from a Josh Appelbaum script. "Ninja Turtles" is scheduled to hit theaters on December 25, 2013. [Michael Bay]

Vin Diesel says Universal is looking at an early 2013 release date for the "Untitled Chronicles of Riddick Sequel". [Facebook]

Lionsgate has confirmed that Francis Lawrence will be directing "The Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire". Production is scheduled to begin this fall and the film will be released on November 22, 2013. [via ComingSoon.net]

Last weekend’s debut of "The Avengers" boosted the weak-performing "John Carter", which saw an increase of over 1,200% from the week prior thanks to it being paired with "The Avengers" at drive-ins. It grossed $1.5M last weekend from 349 theaters. "John Carter" remains a sore spot for Disney, however, having only grossed an estimated $71.6M domestic. Foreign grosses have eased the pain a bit ($200.6M), but the $250M-budgeted project is only at $272.2M worldwide. [THR]

James Cameron still plans to make "Battle Angel Alita", but because he’s so heavily invested in the "Avatar" franchise, he says "…Battle Angel is not going to happen for a few years." [AICN]

Ron Howard offered a brief update on the status of his adaptation of Stephen King’s "The Dark Tower": "Spent day today in a story session on…Dark Tower :-) Terrific meeting w/ Akiva Goldsman & Erica Huggins No timetables but very positive". [Ron Howard]

Rodrigo Santoro has revealed that "300: Battle of Artemisia" will begin filming this July and is a spin-off to the original "300": "I think they’re calling it a spin-off because it’s not exactly a prequel, it’s not a sequel. It takes place in the same time, you start a little earlier but then you see that it’s like a different point of view, a different camera, a different angle. While that battle was happening, the one that you saw in 300, there was another battle happening next to it and you will have a chance to see all of that happening and how they interact." Directed by Noam Murro, ‘Battle of Artemisia’ will be released on August 2, 2013. [Collider]

"Hancock" director Peter Berg says a sequel is still in the works and "Hancock 2" will explore the relationship between Will Smith and Charlize Theron’s characters: "I think we danced around the concept of an origins and we settled on something that is very substantive. That will part of the sequel." [MTV]

Brad Bird has signed on to direct Damon Lindelof’s mysterious sci-fi project "1952". Disney wants to get the film into production next year. The script for "1952" was purchased by Disney last summer. Lindelof will produce. [Deadline]

Microsoft is working with online distributor Machinima ("Mortal Kombat: Legacy") for a live-action web series based on the hit video game franchise "Halo". "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn" will go live before "Halo 4" is released on Xbox 360 on November 6 with five weekly, 15-minute episodes focused on Master Chief. If successful, the web series could lead to a live-action big screen project. [Variety]

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is developing a remake of "Little Shop of Horrors" for Warner Brothers. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa ("Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark") is writing the script, but no director is currently attached. Gordon-Levitt would likely star as the lead character, Seymour. [Heat Vision | THR]

Working Title and director Edgar Wright have set a September start date for "The World’s End", the last film in a trilogy of comedies that include "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz". Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will return to star. Pegg co-wrote the screenplay with Wright. "The World’s End" could be in theaters by Spring 2013. [Deadline]

Famed special makeup effects artist Rick Baker has revealed that he designed the makeup for Angelina Jolie’s character the evil fairy in Disney’s live-action "Sleeping Beauty" film "Maleficent". [ComingSoon.net]

20th Century Fox studio head Tom Rothman offered updates on some of the studio’s projects including "Daredevil": in development, working on the script; "Chronicle 2": Josh Trank is working on the sequel and may or may not direct; "The Wolverine": it’ll be shot in Australia and Japan, casting will begin "in the next month or so"; "Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2": Script in development, Rupert Wyatt returning to direct, and time frame for release would be Summer 2014; Future "X-Men" movies: we could see some announcements made this summer. [Collider]

…Previously Rothman revealed that "X-Men: First Class 2" is expected to begin shooting January 2013 would be out in theaters either Christmas 2013 or Summer 2014…

It’s been a long road for Millenium Films’ Dracula project "Last Voyage of the Demeter", but the film has a new director in Neill Marshall. Marshall is the fourth attached director for the project which has been in development for a decade. Robert Schwentke, Marcus Nispel and David Slade have all been attached in years past. [Heat Vision | THR]

Sony Pictures and FilmDistrict have announced that principal photography has started in New Zealand on the "Evil Dead" remake: "In the film, five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin where they discover a Book Of The Dead and unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival." Production will wrap in early July 2012. Director Fede Alvarez is making his feature debut. [via ComingSoon.net]

The Tim Burton-directed / Johnny Depp-starrer "Dark Shadows" debuted this weekend to a disappointing estimated $28.8M. That’s not a good start for the $150M-budgeted horror comedy. [via Box Office Mojo]

Nathan Fillion has joined the cast of 20th Century Fox’s "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of Monsters". He’ll be playing the Greek deity Hermes in the Thor Freudenthal-directed film. ‘The Sea of Monsters’ is based on the second novel in the popular Rick Riordan fantasy series and is scheduled to hit theaters on March 15, 2013. The first film grossed $226.5M. [THR]

With actress Jessica Chastain having had to drop out of "Iron Man 3" due to scheduling conflicts, Rebecca Hall has stepped in to star opposite Robert Downey Jr. in the Shane Black-directed movie. Hall will play a scientist who helps Tony Stark play a role in developing the nanotechnlogy Extremis… [Variety]

…Earlier, meanwhile, it was reported that Ben Kinglsey had joined the cast of "Iron Man 3". Kinglsey will be playing a villain in the film, but it reportedly won’t be the primary villain. [Heat Vision | THR]

Sharlto Copley is in talks to join Angelina Jolie in Walt Disney’s live-action "Sleeping Beauty" film "Maleficent". Jolie stars as the evil fairy, while Copley will be playing King Stefan… [Deadline]

…Copley will also be starring in Spike Lee’s remake of the cult 2003 thriller "Oldboy". [Deadline]

Julianne Moore will be playing Carrie’s mother in the Kimberly Peirce-directed remake of Brian De Palma’s 1976 film "Carrie". Chloe Moretz is playing the title role in the film, which is based on the 1974 Stephen King novel. [Deadline]

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Byung-Hun Lee have joined the cast of Summit Entertainment’s "RED 2". The two join Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and Helen Mirren in the upcoming Dean Parisot-directed sequel scheduled to hit theaters on August 2, 2013. [via ComingSoon.net]

Chloe Moretz is in negotiations to join the cast of Henry Hobson’s zombie movie "Maggie". The film centers on a father protecting his daughter against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse. [Variety]

Contrary to online speculation, Marion Cotillard confirms that she will not be playing Talia, daughter of Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul (who appeared in "Batman Begins"). She says here character, an ecologically minded businesswoman named Miranda Tate, in "The Dark Knight Rises" "is fascinated by Wayne Enterprises. They go through difficulties, and she wants to help provide the world clean energies. She’s a good guy." [THR]

Thank you so much Rosiaro for such a great article.
I can’t wait to see Thor and Captian America and Iron man 3. I wonder if we will see a Nick Fury Movie.
Can’t wait to see prometheus. Look’s Bad A$$.
Looking forward to seeing Battleship.
The Dark Night Rises should be great as well.

Cool! Some great news today! “The Avengers” was a great movie, and its mind-boggling how short it took to reach $1 billion. Will shortly become the highest-grossing superhero movie ever. Not sure it will beat “Avatar” though.

“Prometheus” is a must see for me. Not sure we need any more “Daredevil” or “Fantastic Four” movies.

I still anticipate “The Hobbit”. Peter Jackson will have the framerate issues resolved, I’m sure.

The framerate issue IS resolved. It just isn’t going to look the same as a movie shot in 24fps and some people don’t like the super crisp look of it. It’s like water splashing in a softdrink commercial where it was filmed in high speed under a synchronized strobe light and every frame of the film is super sharp instead of having a degree of blur.

The advantage is you can keep up with higher speed action more clearly. But it also doesn’t look the same.

Yay! One of my favorite features back. I’m very pleased about Avengers. Makes that kid in me who took solace in a comic book, and was a proud Marvelite (man, Stan Lee was a genius psychologist), very happy to be around to see it.

I’m not going to say I’m looking forward to a Fantastic Four reboot. Nor am I going to say I hope it’s good. Every time I do, I seem to be disappointed. (Conan comes to mind) But,I hope it’s good. Seems the best studio to do such a thing just made the Avengers. The Incredibles, after all was the best FF movie.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”? I saw the trailer in the movies a couple of weeks ago and laughed my ass off. No wonder America’s children are so stupid! I can’t wait to read about what the little dolts write about our president on their history papers this year.

Can’t wait to see: The Dark Knight Rises Men in Black 3 Spider-Man G.I.Joe Retaliation Future movies I’m excited about: Avengers 2 Iron Man 3 Chronicles of Riddick 2 Sequel X Men: First Class 2 Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire RED 2 Curious about: Oblivion (I think Tom Cruise was great in the Minority Report. I like seeing him in science fiction movies) Little Pet Shop of Horrors (saw the 1986 version) 1952 (???) Don’t care to see or fail to understand why they’re making: Fantastic Four (would be kind of weird seeing Chris Evans NOT in Fantastic Four while playing a completely different Marvel character in a different movie sequel that may/may not run concurrently, also the two movies were enough, did NOT like the Silver Surfer) Maleficent (Wha? This seems like a very usless idea.) Wolverine (Will he be in X-Men: First Class 2 hopefully? If so then why…?) Daredevil (one was enough) Percy Jackson and the Sea Monsters (the actors were too old for this franchise from the get-go. With 5 books, they could’ve made 5 movies. The characters start off around 13 years old, the actors–late teens and 20s. Does that make any sense?)

Oh, let’s not forget Snow White. That would be in my “don’t care to see or fail to understand why they’re making” category. The graphics look spiffy but Kristen Stewart can’t act and the fact that she says nothing in the trailer but happens to be the main character speaks volumes to me.

There is Chris Hemsworth (handsome), and Charlize Theron (beautiful and talented…this should be HER movie! I’d watch it with just her and Chris). Sorry but I’ll pass.

@14: you ARE aware that the film’s not intended to be a “this is how it really happened” film, yes? Think of it as a story similar to Pride And Prejudice And Zombies; I’m pretty sure today’s kids are well aware that Jane Austen never wrote about zombies…

great job rosario—luv yer news its priority is scifi fantasy projects, my main interests–i would have hoped there would be a tron legacy sequl announced by now sigh—reminder tron uprising cartoon on disney xd channel premieres june 7—bruce boxleitner, other major avtors provide voices too–2nd trailerreleased a couple weeks ago…cant wait—

Avengers was awesome, saw the it at the midnight screening and then again on opening night. I regret nothing.

As for The Hobbit, how can anyone be opposed to a higher frame rate??
Did people really watch the clips from it and say, “I’m excited for the movie but dammit the quality of the film is just too high. How am I supposed to enjoy this in 3D unless it’s played at a choppy, headache inducing frame rate?”

@ 20 BeatleJWOL. Yes, I’m certainly aware of how it really happened, but the level of stupidity in America’s students never ceases to amaze me. Most students cannot located the United States on a map, and that includes many college students.
Brain and brain! What is brain? We have smart phones. What we need brain for?

20. BeatleJWOL – May 13, 2012
@14: you ARE aware that the film’s not intended to be a “this is how it really happened” film, yes? Think of it as a story similar to Pride And Prejudice And Zombies; I’m pretty sure today’s kids are well aware that Jane Austen never wrote about zombies…
———–
I think you’re wrong. I teach college, and over a third of my freshman students don’t know who America fought in the American Revolution. In fact, I’ve had dozens of students who thought the Declaration of Independence was a letter we wrote to the King of France to keep him from invading our American colonies in England.

No joke. I’m deadly serious about this.
A lot of my students think we’ve already found alien life because they’ve seen so many movies about it. Again, I’m not joking.

VulcanFilmCritic is right: The Abe Lincoln/vampire crap will just add to their uninformed views of the world. (sigh)

Idiocracy Now!
Don’t overestimate the intelligence of the modern American kid. Most of them aren’t learning the basics of reading, writing, or arithmetic, much less a solid foundation in history or science.

As much as I loved Ray Bradbury’s “From The Dust Returned” (I have an autographed copy), I can’t see it as a movie; it’s too lyrical, too poetic. Turning it into a movie will be difficult, if not impossible…. a challenge to be sure.

Pretty sure the “untitled” Marvel project will be a Mark Ruffalo fronted “Hulk” movie; he pretty much stole every scene he was in with “The Avengers.”

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2” has me very excited; that was a very clever reboot. Fixed a lot of the issues I had with the original’s timeline and story (nuclear war that kills most humans but leaves apes OK, for one; I like the genetically engineered virus theory much better).

35 ““Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2″ has me very excited; that was a very clever reboot. Fixed a lot of the issues I had with the original’s timeline and story (nuclear war that kills most humans but leaves apes OK, for one; I like the genetically engineered virus theory much better).”

The original’s nuclear-war story made plenty of sense. Most apes don’t live in human cities, so why would a nuclear war kill them off? They’d be affected by the possible nuclear winter, fallout, and weather changes, but unless the apes were in or very near cities, they’d likely survive the war. It’s not like anyone is aiming nukes at the jungles, ya know.

@33. Yeah, there was talk of doing a mainstream remake of Idiocracy that could get a PG-13 rating… but then everyone involved realized they’d just be filming an average American day! ;)
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@36 A gen-eng virus makes perfect sense. Nuclear war that could wipe out humanity, as shown conclusively by Sagan in the 70’s… would wipe out about everything living on Earth. Sagan real. Apes movie not.

It’s so good to have Trekmovie back at Warp 1, rather than limping along on thrusters like it was last winter. And I totally hope and pray Joss Whedon doesn’t settle for anything less than Return of Firefly now that he has power like never before.

37 – Sagan would be the first to say that nothing was “shown conclusively by Sagan in the 70’s” about nuclear war. It all depends on the way it goes down, with all-out-every-weapon-nuke-the-surface-of-Earth war being only the most extreme possibility. Some scenarios almost certainly wipe out 99% of life, while many other scenarios have less chance of causing nuclear winter, which itself is only a prediction, nothing conclusive.

When dinosaurs were wiped out, plenty of other life survived. There are many parallels being an asteroid strike of that magnitude and a global nuclear war and its aftermath, so we have past evidence to suggest that some life could still survive through even an ELE like a nuclear war, etc.

So, yes, it’s plausible that apes could survive a human nuclear war, especially since the point of the original movie is that apes evolved rather rapidly after humanity’s downfall, possibly because of the nuclear war’s effects. That outcome–humans gone but other, remote animals less affected–is well within the possibilities predicted by Sagan in the 70s and by countless other scientists since.

Be careful not to overstate the findings of science, especially when name-dropping Carl Sagan. Predictions cannot be conclusive until they come to pass.

37… Did they ever come out and say it was nuclear war in the original Planet of the Apes? I know Taylor kept saying “they did it, they actually did it” implying nuclear war, but there really wasn’t much evidence of that. There were those weird red-tinged magnetic storms, but nuclear war doesn’t explain them. After a few thousand years our world would disintegrate to that seen in the “Apes” franchise regardless of nuclear war. See “Life without People” on Discovery or History Channel.

The closest “canon” reference was in the Lawgiver/John Huston narration at the beginning of Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

It went something like…..”In the aftermath of his victory (Caesar’s overthrow of the city/state at the conclusion of Conquest), the surface of the world was ravaged by the vilest war in human history. The great cities split asunder and were flattened. Out of one such city, our savior (Caesar)led a remnant of those that survived in search of greener pastures.”

One of the few concerns I had about Rise was the accidental release of the virus. I felt the nuclear war angle was much more of a cautionary tale because the act was deliberate…not an accident It added to the dark underbelly of the series. Knowing that we had ourselves to blame. Not to mention that is fueled Zaius’ fanatical approach to dealing with humans.

Marvel and Disney are doing everything right with the Marvel Universe. DC has made the mistake of isolating all of their characters in seperate worlds; IE Batman, Superman, Green Lantern don’t seem to know anything about each other.
A Justice League movie was in the works and quickly dropped before The Avengers was even a gleam in Disney’s eye.
Way to drop the ball, DC.

I think genetic engineering and manipulation of diseases can still serve as a dark underbelly to this new Apes series. Those issues are real. Maybe not as horrific or, dare I say, photogenic and spectacular as nuclear war, but the dangers of playing God are the same—a few “educated” men with fingers on nuclear buttons here to “protect” us… replaced by a few “educated” men with fingers on microscopes here to “help” us.

A nice twist, I thought. Plus, a possible side effect of the virus could cause the human survivors to become mute—another callback to the original. Hello, Nova.